Milder Air Will Change Snow To Sleet And Rain

WEATHER WATCH

So what of this Presidents' Day snow generator? Well, acting to keep snowfall amounts tolerable (4 to 7 inches inland, less near the shore) is the overall structure and track of this storm.

Without a real deep southward punch of the polar jet, this storm center really wants to track inland, to our west. This will help pull the warm front, and milder air aloft, toward us for a sleet and rain changeover near our coast this afternoon.

Also, explosive development of a ``real'' nor'easter -- a so-called ``secondary'' vortex near Block Island -- would help lock in cold surface air by forcing a wind shift to the north around its rear flank. But this afternoon, only a feeble secondary will form, too little, too late, too far east, just as drying starts.